1G5 



which was noticed where the ascent of the peak was 

 commenced, at about 1,S00 feet below the top. Co- 

 lumnar basalt is rare in Fiji, and the Fijians formerly 

 used its columns, or a portion of them, to mark, or 

 record, certain epochs or events which occurred in the 

 history of a tribe. These columns are generally seen 

 near the sites of the DeviVs Bures or old heathen 

 temples, and mystical or ceremonial rites may have 

 been attached to them. Near Savu-savu some colum- 

 nar basalt may be seen in situ in the bed of a 

 stream. 



In Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, sedimentary or lime- 

 stone rocks are found on all the mountains. "Where 

 absent, denudation, it is conjectured, has been the 

 cause. It may be presumed that the characters of 

 these rocks have in many instances been altered by 

 volcanic heat, so as to resemble rocks of a different 

 origin. A case in point was noticed in the bed of 

 the Wai ni Loa branch of the Wai ni Mala, where 

 the strata had been folded into a vertical position, 

 and exposed to view by the action of the river. 



The doubling up of the strata, from whatever cause 3 

 and upheavals, may be adduced as reasons for the 

 greater part of the surface of Fiji being hilly and 

 uneven. At Suva, the strata on the sides of the slopes 

 lie at a greater or less angle, while on the top of the 

 slopes the strata assume a somewhat horizontal or un- 

 conformable position. This would point to the pre- 

 sumed unconformable strata either having been 

 deposited after the formation of the other strata, or 

 what is more likely, these are the top of the folded 

 strata, i.e., the strata forming the slopes, and from 

 their horizontal position better preserved from denu- 

 dation. This rock in many places is soft, and crumbles 



